More Than Hero Worship
by pprbckwrtr
Summary: This is my first attempt at a Lindsay/Cindy story.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, James Patterson does. **Although he screwed up when he gave them to ABC

A/N: This should be a pretty quick one, 5 or 6 chapters. And it is basically done so I should have it all up quickly.

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Lindsay had spent the last hour looking around the dark alley for any bit of evidence that was missed earlier in the day. There was a murder committed on the roof of the building she was currently behind, and they were certain that the assailant had left the scene by the fire escape down into the alley. The crime scene techs had spent the better part of the afternoon going over the roof and the alley and turned up very little evidence. And with little physical evidence to occupy their time that meant she and Jacobi had spent their time at the station going over the victim's criminal history trying to narrow down the list of suspects.

And since sitting at her desk going through files always left her bored and anxious she now found herself digging around the garbage bags that were piled under the fire escape. A noise from above had her hiding in the shadows while someone moved down the fire escape and into the alley.

"Freeze." Lindsay said as she moved out into the dim light.

"Damn, Lindsay. Way to give a girl a heart attack."

"What are you doing here Cindy?" Lindsay sighed as she holstered her weapon.

"Same as you I would guess." Cindy answered sheepishly as she turned to face her friend. "Find anything?"

"No." Feeling the need to scold her young friend but knowing what good it would do Lindsay simply asked, "you?"

"No. The techs went over the roof pretty thoroughly." Cindy smiled at the lack of yelling.

"Yeah, the alley too." Lindsay responded dejectedly.

"You know, maybe he actually didn't make it all the way down." Cindy stated as she stared at the fire escape.

"Maybe." Lindsay agreed, following Cindy's sight-line to the back of the building. "He could have ducked into any one of those windows. I'll get CSU down here tomorrow to go through the building."

Resigned to the fact that there was actually nothing to find they began walking out of the alley. "So, Claire says Pete is coming to town this weekend. That's great." Cindy moved the conversation from crime to Lindsay's love life.

"He has a meeting in LA on Monday. He'll get in Friday afternoon and we'll have the weekend." Lindsay informed her, less than enthusiastically.

"You know, I am big enough to admit when I'm wrong." Cindy added with a nudge of her elbow.

"What are you wrong about this time?" Lindsay nudged back.

Cindy faked outrage over the ,_this time_, comment but then smiled, "six months and still going strong. Maybe its just me that sucks at long distance relationships." She responded with a laugh.

An engine roar from behind had the two women turning suddenly to see a car speeding toward them down the alley. Seconds later Lindsay was untangling herself from the garbage, once back on her feet she looked after the car just as it was turning out of the alley. To say she was surprised by the car would be an understatement but what was more surprising was the quickness and the force with which she was pushed out of the way.

She turned back to help Cindy and that's when she saw her, motionless in the middle of the alley. "Cindy!" She screamed as she sprinted back up to her friend. Once at her side she knelt down and carefully checked for a pulse, "hang on honey." She pulled out her phone and called for back up and an ambulance. It took all the will power Lindsay had not to scoop the younger woman up and get her to the hospital herself but she knew that could cause more harm than good. So she remained next to her unconscious friend whispering words of encouragement all the while resting her fingers on the weak pulse, willing it to keep beating.

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A/N2: Lindsay always gets to be the hero so I thought I would try something different.


	2. Chapter 2

Lindsay stood in the darkened hospital room looking out the windows, "Jacobi can handle this case, Tom." she whispered into her phone. "No, I don't know when I'll be back in." She paused taking in whatever Tom was yelling at her. "He has been stopping in and we've gone over the file...he can handle it....I'm not leaving." A small sound from behind her had Lindsay turning toward the bed. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." She said as she abruptly hung up on her boss and moved across the room to the bed.

"Hey there, sleepy head." She said as she moved to Cindy's side. She looked down into her friend's tired, confused and scared eyes. "You're okay, you were asleep for a while but you're back now." Lindsay tried to comfort as she pushed the call button for the nurses' station. Once she informed them that they should send in the doctor Lindsay focused her attention back to Cindy. "You got hit by a car. Remember?"

Cindy nodded and made a noise to speak but Lindsay stopped her. "No, don't try to talk. Wait for the doctor to remove the tubes." Then she immediately answered the 'why' in Cindy's eyes. "You were out for a couple of days." The confused brown eyes scanned the room and then settled back on Lindsay with more questions. "You broke your leg and arm, a few ribs and there was some internal bleeding..."

Lindsay's injury list was cut off by the doctor entering the room. "Nice to see you awake Ms. Thomas." he said as he approached the bed. He turned to Lindsay, "why don't you wait in the hall Inspector."

"I should probably stay." Lindsay's request was met by a nurse escorting her out.

Actually thankful for the moment alone Lindsay leaned against the wall and relaxed slightly. She made two brief calls to inform the girls that Cindy was awake, unfortunately she had no answers to their many questions. She told them that rushing over now would be pointless, and reluctantly they agreed to wait till morning.

After thirty minutes the doctor finally came out of Cindy's room and Lindsay tried to rush back in. He grabbed her arm to stop her, "the nurses are just finishing up. Give them a few minutes."

"Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine." He assured. "She has movement in her left hand and foot, so the bones should heal fine. She has full control of her right side and some strength in her arm and leg, and I suspect that will return fully in time. Her memory seems intact but there are some holes from the night of the accident." _Accident, _Lindsay hated it when they said that. The first night she had angrily corrected Claire's use of the word, 'murder attempt you mean' she screamed at her, then felt immediately guilty. So for the next two days she held her tongue when the doctors and nurses would refer to the _accident._

"You know her better than we do, so keep an eye on her and let us know if anything seems wrong." The doctor asked of Lindsay before finally allowing her remittance to the room.

Lindsay stalled inside the door taking a moment to collect her thoughts. She had spent the last two days trying to figure out what to say, how to thank her friend for, quite possibly, saving her life. And now that Cindy was awake she still had no idea what she was going to say.

When Cindy finally turned to face her Lindsay found her courage and moved to the bed.

"You don't have to stay here." Cindy whispered

"I want to." Lindsay replied as her courage diminished.

"The doctor said it was Friday. Isn't Pete here?"

Lindsay took Cindy's hand. "He understands."

"Linz." Cindy sighed as her eyes drifted closed. "Go home and spend time with your boyfriend." She forced her eyes back open. "Besides, I have a feeling I'll be asleep in no time."

Courage now gone Lindsay reluctantly agreed, "if you're sure." She leaned down and kissed Cindy gently on the forehead, "I'll be back in the morning."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." Cindy assured her as she finally appeared to let sleep overtake her. Hearing the tell tale sound of her guest leaving Cindy opened her eyes and watched the door close before turning her gaze to stare blankly out the window.


	3. Chapter 3

Cindy awoke the next morning to a familiar scent and she allowed herself a minute to enjoy it. "What are you doing back here already?"

Lindsay looked up from her paper. "I told you I'd be back." She reminded her as she stood and moved to the bed.

"What time is it?" Cindy asked with yawn.

"Seven." Lindsay reached down and took Cindy's hand. "I would have thought you'd slept enough." she teased.

"Apparently not." Cindy responded with a smile. "Pete's only here a few days, you really should be with him."

"Don't worry about that. I don't want you to be alone." It seemed like that was all Cindy wanted lately though. It was a month ago that her mother passed away and since then Cindy seemed to pull away from them. It probably didn't help that Claire was spending more time at home to help her ailing marriage, Jill was working hard to get back into Luke's good graces, and Lindsay...had Pete.

"I'm fine." Cindy turned her head in order to stop the tears that were threatening.

"Maybe I'm not." Lindsay admitted softly as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Why?" Cindy turned back to Lindsay and squeezed her hand. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice thick with concern.

Lindsay gave a small smile at the reaction. Cindy was the one lying in the hospital, she was the one who almost died and yet she was more concerned with how Lindsay felt. "You saved my life." When she saw Cindy shaking her head Lindsay reached out and placed a hand on her cheek. "You did." Lindsay said with conviction.

Cindy fought the feeling the touch set off in her. "I just reacted. I would have done it for anyone." That wasn't entirely true. Of course she always tried to help anyone she could but there were actually very few people she would risk her life for. She just didn't want Lindsay to feel like she owed her anything.

Lindsay felt her emotions starting to push to the surface so she stood up and took a step away from the bed to keep them at bay. "We need to figure out where you are going to stay once you get released. It will probably not be for a while but when the time comes you're going to need some help."

"My place has an elevator, I'll be fine there."

"I was talking with Claire earlier, we thought you could stay with her. The house is already wheelchair accessible."

"Claire has had enough house-guests lately, besides I'd feel more comfortable at home."

"Okay, well I could stay with you." Lindsay suggested tentatively.

"You have Martha to take care of and my building doesn't allow dogs."

Did Cindy not want her around or was she just trying to be a friend and give Lindsay an excuse not to feel obligated. Whatever the reason Lindsay could feel her frustration building. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"Hey there, what are we interrupting." Claire directed at Lindsay as she and Jill entered the room and approached the bed. "How are you doing honey?" Claire bent to kiss Cindy's forehead.

"I'm good." Cindy responded with a subdued cheerfulness.

Smiling slightly at Cindy's attempt to comfort them Claire stepped back to give Jill some room, "hey there hero." Cindy grimaced at the moniker but Jill merely nodded. "Glad to see you awake."

After taking a moment of comfort in having the 'club' whole again Claire turned her attention to Lindsay. "She's only been awake a few hours what could she possibly have done to have you upset already."

"She's insisting on staying by herself when she gets released." Lindsay said as justification for her outburst. She hadn't intended to start an argument, she just started this conversation because she was too afraid to say what she really wanted to.

"You do realize we don't have to decide that today." Claire reasoned.

"You do realize I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions." Cindy chimed in from the bed.

"See." Lindsay huffed, pointing to the bed.

"Why don't you and I go get some breakfast." Claire suggested as she ushered Lindsay to the door, stopping briefly next to the bed. "We will talk about your release when the time comes," Claire informed Cindy. And Cindy had the good grace, or maybe just the brains, to keep silent. Arguing with Lindsay was one thing, she generally just frustrated the Inspector into giving up, but she never seemed to win against Claire.


	4. Chapter 4

With Claire on Lindsay duty Jill agreed to stay with Cindy. "Deja vu." Jill said with a small smile as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

A slight chuckle escaped Cindy before she reached out and took Jill's hand, "believe me this is one deja I'd rather not vu."

"Is that even a thing?" Jill laughed.

"Hey, cut me some slack. I was in a coma after all." Cindy was trying to keep the mood light but uttering the actual word made her nauseous.

After taking a moment to studying her, once again lucky to be alive, friend Jill decided to dive into the deep end. "So you think saving her life is a good way to win her over?"

"Not this again." Cindy responded with a deep sigh, clearly not looking forward to the coming conversation.

"Last time you stormed out on me. At least I know that won't happen this time."

"I could call the nurse and have you forcible removed." Cindy threatened half-heartily.

"Why won't you just tell her how you feel. You might be surprised by her response."

Cindy squeezed Jill's hand and looked at her friend intently "I do not want to date Lindsay."

"Worst.."

"Stop." Cindy cut her off. "I am not going to date her." she amended.

"Cindy," Jill began calmly. "she is my best friend, I know her better than anyone, other than Claire maybe. And I am telling you you're blind if you don't see it."

"Then I guess I'm blind. Look, maybe what you're seeing is just hero-worship. Because of the alley." Cindy really wanted to derail this conversation but Jill was persistent.

"I know what you're doing but I'm not as flappable as the good inspector." Jill laughed lightly.

"Maybe not, but you aren't quite up to Claire's level of unflappableness either." Cindy was trying to deal with this conversation with the one emotion she could handle at the moment, humor.

Cindy obviously didn't want to deal with this now and there was a part of Jill wanted to drop the whole thing. But she was convinced that she was right and the fact that she was once again sitting on Cindy's hospital bed made her that much more determined. "She hasn't left since you've been here."

"Actually she has. I made her go home last night to Pete, her boyfriend by the way."

"And she was back bright and early. She was barely gone."

"Long enough." Cindy whispered looking away.

Jill shook her head. "See. What was that?"

Caught in her jealousy Cindy reluctantly turned back to face Jill. "Okay, even if I am attracted it doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"Did you not hear me mention Pete, the _man_ in her life. Which by the way, I'm not."

"So, you're afraid she'll turn you down because you're a woman? I happen to know she's been attracted to women in the past." Jill revealed.

Cindy felt a flare of hope in that revelation, then it quickly turned to another stab of jealousy. "Did you two ever?"

"Would that bother you?" Jill asked with a smile. When she didn't get an answer she decided to put Cindy's mind at ease. "No, we never. That would never work." Jill paused for a second, torn between what she knew was best for her two friends and revealing Lindsay's secrets. "Lindsay doesn't like for her personal life to be on display, so I think that has kept her from ever pursuing a serious relationship with a woman. Men are easier and expected and they don't draw attention."

"So what makes you think she's ready now?" Cindy asked, still unconvinced.

"Well you are pretty hard to ignore."

Cindy contemplated what she was hearing. "If what you say is true then I'm even more convinced that I'm not right for her."

Jill watched the pain and disappointment that was clearly on her friend's face as she uttered the words and it finally hit her why Cindy was so reluctant. "Is that what this is all about? You don't think you're good enough?"

"I didn't say that, I said not right." Cindy clarified. "She is better off with Pete, he can give her what I can't."

"And just what is that?"

"Stability, a family, and she can keep her life under the radar where she likes it."

"Maybe," Jill appeared to mull over Cindy's argument, "but what about happiness and excitement."

"I think you give me too much credit." Cindy said with a sad smile.

"And I don't think you give yourself enough." Jill watched as Cindy's eyes filled with tears, "I also don't think Pete would jump in front of a car for her."

"I didn't either, just didn't move out of the way fast enough."

"No but you moved her fast enough."

Cindy finally let go of Jill's hand and turned toward the window. "You know I think I'm getting kinda tired."

"Cindy.."

"Why don't you go find the others, I'm gonna get some rest."

Slowly Jill stood up from the bed and moved toward the door. Before she left Cindy spoke again, "take Lindsay home with you." Jill started to respond but decided that she had pushed enough for one day.


	5. Chapter 5

In the hospital cafeteria Claire sat finishing her coffee as Lindsay pushed the remnants of her breakfast around on her plate.

"Are you okay?" Claire finally asked, although she already knew the answer she would be given.

"Fine." Lindsay responded unconvincingly.

"Pete is only here another day and a half, why don't you go spend time with him. I can sit with Cindy if it will make you feel better."

"He left for LA this morning."

"Why? I thought he was here till Sunday night."

"Cindy kicked me out last night so I went home to talk to him. I told him to go. I didn't think it was fair for him to be stuck at my place, while I'm here." Lindsay looked up to meet Claire's gaze. "What?" She asked defensively while Claire sat silently studying her.

"It is a bit curious that he flies half way around the world to see you and you tell him to leave."

"He came for his meeting." Lindsay said in her own defense

Claire took note of of the redness in her friend's eyes. "Honey you look really tired. Why don't you just go home for a while and get some rest." She suggested, her motherly concern kicking in.

Lindsay dropped her gaze back to her coffee. "We could have both..."

"I know," Claire cut in, not wanting to think about how different things could be. "I'm sure she doesn't want you feeling guilty about this."

"I left last time." Lindsay added in a mere whisper. She didn't just feel guilty about this, she still felt a lot of guilt over Cindy's shooting six months ago. Logically she knew that she couldn't have stopped it, but that didn't stop her from continually coming up with 'what if' scenarios that might have prevented it. And if she wanted to be truly honest with herself, which she rarely did, she would admit that most of her guilt stemmed from the fact that while Cindy laid in the hospital she went on a date. The shooting made her confront emotions that scared her and she that wasn't ready to deal with so she went and hid behind Pete.

"That's what this is about?" Claire reached out and covered Lindsay's hands with her own. "It's been months since Cindy got shot. I thought you had moved past it."

"Apparently not." Lindsay admitted reluctantly.

"Lindsay, when are you..." Claire's question was interrupted by Jill joining the table.

"What are you doing down here? Is Cindy okay." Lindsay asked worriedly.

"She's fine." Jill assured her. "She kicked me so she could get some rest."

Lindsay released a sigh of relief. "I should probably get back up there."

"She told me to take you home." Jill informed her.

"What? Why?"

"Oh, I don't know. Something about your boyfriend who flew around the world for you." Jill answered sarcastically.

"He left for LA this morning." Claire clued Jill in, and the two shared a knowing glance.

"Why?" Jill asked turning her gaze to Lindsay.

"It's not important." Lindsay announced trying to put an end to the conversation.

Unfortunately her friends weren't willing to let it drop. "Is he coming back?" Jill asked.

Lindsay took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair, "I told him that the long distance thing wasn't working." She crossed her arms and waited for the barrage of questions. "You aren't going to say anything?" she prompted when the questions didn't come.

"Sorry," Claire began, "I thought it was going so well. The last few weeks, all the late night calls."

"There weren't any." Lindsay admitted slowly.

"Any what?" Jill asked

"Phone calls. I just said that so I could have some time to myself." Lindsay paused, not wanting to make eye contact. "I needed to figure out a few things."

"Would you please just tell her already." Jill exploded.

Lindsay just stared at her in shock.

"Jill, let them work it out." Claire tried to calm them before the situation got out of control.

Lindsay looked between her two best friends, "what are you talking about?" she muttered.

"Oh get off it." Jill wasn't buying Lindsay's innocent act. "We know how you feel about Cindy, and I happen to know that she's crazy about you."

"She is?" Lindsay asked hopefully as she felt her heart kick in her chest.

"You two are driving me nuts." Jill said as she threw up her hands. She took a deep breath and turned to fully face Lindsay, "don't get mad, but I told her that you were attracted to her too." The statement drew a glare but Jill continued. "She actually tried to use the hero-worship line on me."

That thought brought a smile to Lindsay's face. She used to brush off Cindy's attention toward her as just that but she now recognized that it was more than that, for both of them. When she caught her friends staring at her knowingly Lindsay looked down at the table, "I just don't want to mess up the friendship we have."

"How do you know it won't be better?" Claire asked.

Lindsay looked up sadly, "my past track record."

Jill expelled a frustrated sigh. "You two are just alike. I just had to listen to her explain to me why she's not good enough for you."

Lindsay scoffed at that idea.

"She doesn't really think that does she?" Claire asked seriously.

"Yes she does. She thinks Pete would be better for you." Jill relaxed and took Lindsay's hand. "But you don't love him do you?" she asked sincerely.

"No." She admitted adamantly. "At first I thought I could and then I figured that I couldn't possibly mess it up with him on the other side of the world."

"So then instead of having an ever present boyfriend to focus your attention on, and since you no longer had to worry about my blind date attempts you were actually free to spend more time with Cindy. And it scared you. Which is why you spent the last three weeks on pretend phone calls." Jill summarized.

Lindsay stared at her for a moment before responding, "I plead the fifth."

"Just go talk to her. You aren't going to resolve anything until you are honest with each other." Claire suggested.

Lindsay looked at her encouraging friends. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" she begged for assurances while her courage slowly increased. "I wouldn't want to mess up the 'club'." she smiled.

"We just want you to be happy. And I think she can do that for you." Claire assured her.

I just hope I can do that for her, Lindsay thought to herself as she rose slowly from the table.

Jill watched as Lindsay left the cafeteria then turned back to catch Claire staring at her. "What? They needed a push."


	6. Chapter 6

Lindsay entered Cindy's room to find the redhead sitting more upright in her bed absentmindedly pushing food around her breakfast tray. Lindsay took a deep breath and moved directly to the bed.

Cindy turned to face her, "hope your breakfast was better than this." She said with a forced cheerfulness. "I could really go a long time without more hospital food."

"We need to talk." Lindsay informed her as she pushed the tray out of the way and sat on the bed.

"Linz...." Cindy began before Lindsay put a finger to her lips to silence her.

"Actually, I need to talk. I've been trying for the past two and a half days to come up with what to say to you, longer than that really."

"You don't..."

"Shhh...I want to start by telling you that I broke up with Pete."

"But..."

"You just can't shut up can you," figuring out the best way to accomplish her task Lindsay leaned down and gave Cindy a quick kiss, when she pulled back a dumbstruck Cindy just stared at her. "If that's all it takes to quiet you I should have done it a while ago."

"You shouldn't..."

"Why? Because it's just hero-worship." Lindsay asked with a smile.

"You talked to Jill." Cindy sighed as she dropped her head back onto her pillow.

"She's getting tired of us dancing around the subject so she told me what you said."

"And everything I said is true."

"So, you are crazy about me?" she smirked.

Cindy expelled a frustrated sigh. "Is that all she said?"

"Some bull about you not being good enough."

"I said I'm not right for you." She clarified, again. "And I'm not."

Lindsay stared at her in disbelief. "Why would you say that?"

"Come on Lindsay. What would people say?"

"They would wonder how I got so lucky." Lindsay said softly as she reached out and cupped Cindy's face with her hand.

"They would think you've lost your mind." Cindy corrected her. "What about Tom?"

"He is no longer my problem."

"I'm serious." Cindy asserted.

"So am I. Is your concern for my reputation the only problem here?" Lindsay knew that this relationship could raise some eyebrows, but she didn't care. She didn't know if it was her own inner strength that finally made her ready to step out of her comfort zone or if what she felt for Cindy was just too hard to ignore. But whatever the reason she was ready, she wanted this.

"You deserve more than I can give to you. And once you figure that out, I just...I don't want you to end up hating me." Finally Cindy admitted her biggest fear. She, of course, was worried about how it would affect Lindsay's work life, and she did want for her to have everything she wants. But her biggest worry was losing what she already had. If they did this and it failed she could lose one, maybe three, of the best friends she's ever had.

"This is quiet a role reversal for me." Lindsay admitted as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind Cindy's ear. "I've never really been the chaser before."

"Yeah, well I've never been so worried of the end that I'm afraid to get started."

"Look, I don't know what's going to happen, but I can't hide from you anymore. The only thing I can promise you is that no matter what happens I could never hate you. Even if this doesn't work out I want you in my life," Lindsay assured her as she leaned down and captured Cindy's lips again, a soft moan coming from the back of her throat when those lips opened willingly to her. When she felt Cindy's hand come to rest on her thigh she pulled away and smiled down at her. "Changing your mind?"

"You're not giving me much of a choice." Cindy admitted breathlessly. Her lips quirked slightly, "I may need more convincing though."

Lindsay smiled. She would do as much convincing as was necessary.

**

Unbeknownst to the two women Jacobi had opened the door. Upon seeing them otherwise occupied he quietly closed the door and turned back down the hall where he ran into Claire and Jill.

"Hey Warren." Claire greeted him warmly. "What's up."

"I just came by to let Lindsay know the case is closed."

"You caught the guy that hit Cindy?" Jill asked hopefully.

"Yes and he was the same one that committed the murder on the roof."

"That's great. Why don't we go tell them." Claire suggested.

Jacobi glanced back toward the door, "um. Actually they were a little busy." He turned back to see the knowing smiles on the two women's faces. "Why don't we go get some coffee. We can fill each other in on the latest developments."

"We just had coffee." Jill complained.

"You can never have too much." Claire smiled as she threaded her arm through Jill's and led her back to the cafeteria.

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Much thanks to those who read and reviewed.

Hope you didn't mind not being involved in the case, but it was just a jumping off point and unimportant to the story I was telling with this one.


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